The present invention generally relates to systems and methods of determining swing metrics that characterize the swing of a batter, and specifically to an instrumented batting system that measures the swing and displays the swing metrics to the batter.
An increasingly popular metric in measuring the effectiveness of a baseball or softball batter's swing is the velocity of the ball in-flight after contact with the bat. Greater exit velocity of the ball in-flight after contact with the bat is representative of the batter initiating contact with the ball with a greater portion of the bat, and with greater precision. A high exit velocity is thus representative of a more effective swing. In contrast, lower exit velocity is representative of the batter initiating contact with the ball with a lesser portion of the bat and with less precision, and is thus representative of a less effective swing.
Conventional methods in measuring exit velocity include using a radar device held by an operator in which the operator attempts to aim the radar device at the ball after it has been hit to measure the exit velocity as the ball travels away from the bat. However, the exit velocity decreases rapidly after the ball has been hit. Thus, the operator that attempts to measure the exit velocity of the ball in the above manner measures an exit velocity that is decreasing as the ball travels away from the batter. Such a measured exit velocity can be significantly less than the exit velocity of the ball immediately after the ball makes contact with the bat, resulting in an inaccurate assessment in the effectiveness of the batter's swing.
In addition, when the operator aims the radar device at the ball, the radar device may be at an angle relative to the flight path of the ball, which reduces the measured exit velocity. Rather than measuring the exit velocity, an angle between the radar device and the flight path of the ball results in the measured velocity being multiplied by the cosine of the angle between the radar beam and the flight path of the ball. This cosine effect can result in the measured exit velocity being significantly less than the actual exit velocity, which again results in an inaccurate assessment in the effectiveness of the batter's swing. Since the angle can be different from measurement to measurement, it can be difficult to take the angle into account in comparing or evaluating measurements without the use of a complex and expensive radar system.
Thus, there is a need for improved systems, methods, and computer program products that accurately determine swing metrics and display those metrics to the user.